Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a long-running quiz show where contestants would vie for a million pounds by answering questions correctly in a row. Gameplay Contestants answered a list of 15 (later 12) increasingly difficult multiple-choice questions to win the top prize of £1 million. Contestants could choose to leave the game at any point and claim the prize for the last correctly answered question without penalty. Answering the fifth question (later the second question) correctly guarantees that a contestant will leave with no less than £1,000 if they provide an incorrect answer to a later question, and answering the tenth question (later the seventh question) correctly increases the minimum payout to £50,000. A contestant who answers any of the first set of questions incorrectly before winning £1,000 leaves with nothing. Lifelines There were three lifelines to help the contestants; more than one lifeline could be used on a question, but each lifeline could only be used once: 50/50: Where the computer would eliminate two answers leaving one correct answer and one incorrect answer. 'Ask the Audience: '''Members of the studio audience would vote on the keypads what answer they think is the best. A percentage of how many believe that is the answer is shown after voting is completed. '''Phone a Friend: '''The contestant would call up one of his/her five friends to help get the question correct. The contestant was given 30 seconds to talk the question over. '''Switch: '''A lifeline that lasted from 2002-2003 and then again from 2010-2014. The computer would replace the old question with a new question. However, any lifelines used on the original question would not be reinstated for the new question. Fastest Finger First Question (1998-2010, 2018-present) There were ten people competing against each other in the "Fastest Finger First" round. A question would appear on the screen and contestants were asked to enter the correct answer. This later changed to the contestants being shown a question and four answers and the contestants were to put the answers in order. Either way, whoever was the fastest won and had the right to play for £1,000,000. If two or more contestants tie, a tiebreaker question is played to determine who would play. If the original ''or tiebreaker question is missed, the process repeats until there is a winner. In the 2018 revival, the Fastest Finger First contestant capacity was reduced to six people. Big Bad Clock (2010-2014) In 2010, Millionaire made a new format. This new format no longer had "Fastest Finger First." Contestants were timed against a clock known as "The Big Bad Clock". The clock had 30 seconds timed for each question. However, on the last five questions, they would not be timed. The clock was stopped when a contestant chose to use a lifeline on questions 1-7. If, during the first seven questions, the contestant ran out of time on a question, their winnings would drop back down to either nothing (on question 1 or 2) or the £1,000 milestone (if they passed that point), as if the question had been answered incorrectly. The clock version was inspired by the American version of Millionaire, in which that version used the clock from 2008-2010. Money Trees This is how the money trees changed over the course of the formats: Top prize winners Here are the list of the contestants who have won the top prize: * Judith Keppel (20th November 2000) * David Edwards (21st April 2001) * Robert Brydges (29th September 2001) * Pat Gibson (24th April 2004) * Ingram Wilcox (23rd September 2006) The discarded top prize winners On 18th September 2001, Charles Ingram, a former British Army major went on Millionaire. He was accused of cheating from coughs from Tecwen Whittock. He was convicted of deception in 2003, and was given an 18-month suspended sentence, although he maintained that he did not cheat. After winning £1 MILLION, the payout was suspended when Ingram was accused of cheating by having his wife, Diana, and an accomplice, Tecwen Whittock, cough as Ingram announced the correct answer from the available choices. Charles and Diana Ingram and Whittock were convicted by a majority verdict of "procuring the execution of a valuable security by deception" on 7th April 2003. As a result, ITV and Celador Productions decided not to air the episode until 21st April 2003. Taping Location Elstree Studios, Borehamwood International Versions Here are a list of the countries that have aired their versions of Millionaire: *Afghanistan (Pashto & Persian language) *Albania *Angola *Arab Maghreb *Arab World *Argentina *Armenia *Australia *Austria *Azerbaijan *Bangladesh *Belgium (French & Dutch language) *Brazil *Bulgaria *Canada (English language Only) *Chile *China *Colombia *Costa Rica *Croatia *Czech Republic *Cyprus *Denmark *El Salvador *Ecuador *Egypt *Estonia *Finland *France *Georgia *Germany *Ghana *Greece *Honduras *Hong Kong *Hungary *Iceland *India (Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Bengali & Bhojpuri language) *Indonesia *Ireland *Israel *Italy *Ivory Coast *Japan *Kazakhstan *Kenya *Kosovo *Kurdistan *Latvia *Lithuania *Macedonia *Malaysia *Mexico *Moldova *Netherlands *New Zealand *Nigeria *Norway *Pakistan *Panama *Peru *Philippines *Poland *Portugal *Romania *Russia *Serbia *Singapore *Slovakia *Slovenia *South Africa *Spain *Sri Lanka (including Sinhala and Tamil languages) *Sweden *Switzerland *Taiwan *Thailand *Turkey *Uganda *Ukraine *United States of America *Uruguay *Venezuela *Vietnam Music Keith & Matthew Strachan Catchphrases "Tonight and for the next ten nights, you will be watching British quiz-show history where, for the first time in TV history, there will be a grand prize available for one million pounds. It could be won here tonight! No tricks, no traps! Contestants will leave the studio tonight with big cash prizes; and if they have the skill and nerve, someone could leave here a millionaire! Join us as we play Who Wants To Be A Millionaire!" -Chris Tarrant (Series Premiere,'' September 4 1998)'' "Hello and welcome to the (insert date) edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire!" - Chris Tarrant "Welcome back to tonight's edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire!" - Chris Tarrant "YOU JUST WON ONE MILLION POUNDS!" - Chris Tarrant "Audience, absolute silence, please. It's Fastest Finger first, and here's the question! (insert question and four possible answers)" - Chris Tarrant "Final Answer?" - Host "Fantastic!" - Chris Tarrant "But we don't want to give you that!" - Chris Tarrant "ONE MILLION POUNDS!" - Chris Tarrant Additional Pages List of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? episodes and specials List of Celebrities on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Category:General Knowledge Quiz Category:Big Prize Category:Long-Running Category:Revivals Category:ITV Shows Category:1998 premieres Category:2014 endings Category:2018 premieres